Fledge
by Lost Legendaerie
Summary: ONESHOT- Slight implied Joshyme- Rhyme knows Joshua pretty well, better than he thinks she does, but what would Joshua be if he didn't have a few secrets? Run on sentances and conjecture follow, but it's my own fault for writing by the seat of my pants.


A/N. Saro caves to peer pressure like an angel food cake. xD Mmmm, cake.

But, um, Inspiration of Imagination did one, Jaunea did one... not sure if I missed some kind of promt on the forum, but I'm gonna do one. I can't believe I got this done before my trip.... I'm leaving, like, in two hours after I post. DX Not that it's my best ever. Meh. It's not supposed to be super fluffy (except in one respect) and I might even make it a two-shot.

ENDGAME SPOILERS FOLLOW. Also conjecture and the longest run on sentence ever. Whoo hoo!

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Fledge

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Rhyme knows Joshua better than he thinks she does.

She can tell his mood just by observing him, just as she's doing now while mopping the floor of WildKat, watching him banter with Hanekoma. He tilts his head back and flashes that dazzling smile as he laughs, legs swinging aimlessly over the counter as he sits on the polished surface. Must be a good day, she notes, wringing out the mop. He seems quite happy. And, of course, Joshua's happiness is Shibuya's happiness. No wonder the crowds seemed a little more considerate of each other- but just a little.

She continues her mopping, humming a little tune under her breath as she moves smoothly around the floor, thrilled with the sound of the ruffled white apron against the simple black skirt of the miad-esque dress- curtosy of Shiki and Eri, naturally. But it was Joshua's idea to have some kind of 'uniform' for working at WildKat.

The damage done by Minamimoto in the last week of The Great Game as Joshua calls it - or Dead Man's Chess according to Hanekoma, and typically accompanied by a mildly stern look at Joshua- or 'I'm just glad it's over' by Neku, but with a secret look at Shiki that told Rhyme he had some pleasure in it's happening, had ended with the cafe's interior redone in a sort of classic, almost Western way, with wood floors and rich red walls, filled with a sense of warmth and class but with still a bit of an edge to its feel- most likely attributed to the Reaper Decal on the outside wall that was mere grafitti to the RG and a simultanious warning and invitation to those of the UG. For the decal meant a compresion of planes, a middle ground for living and dead. Reapers must remember to hide their wings at the door, and Noise were erased before even entering, so the strange creatures huddled around the outside, their engery filtering through the walls without revealing their terrifying presence to the oblivious masses.

What was Joshua think right now, she mused absently, as his lips curl up in a wide smirk, shoulders shaking with sly laughter as Hanekoma shook his head in mock weariness, coffee brown eyes reguarding the ageless youth with something so fatherly, it made her sigh with something almost envious.

Not of Joshua, however, for though Hanekoma was special to him in a way that neither of them explained, he was everyone's father figure. No, she was envious of how Joshua opened up to him, and only ever him.

No, it was not envy- nor was it pity, thankfully, or Joshua would shatter their so-fragile almost-friendship in cold distain. It was sadness.

He had so much to offer, she knew, if he'd just open himself up. If he'd listen to what Hanekoma told Neku on a daily basis, she added mentally with a touch of bitterness, but only at her helplessness in the situation.

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When she came back to WildKat, Rhyme was disturbed to find the door unlocked, guilt-ridden to see a light in the back on- she had been the last one there last night- and utterly shocked to see Joshua in the back room.

He had his back to her, and his body wrapped in the light of his Composer Form like a veil of moonlight had surrounded him. But what prompted her gasp were his wings.

They were breathtaking.

Delicate and soft looking white feathered wings overlaid with a set of pure white Reaper wings, both seeming to tremble with a life of their own, simultaneously strong yet brittle, as if they're shatter into a million pieces if she touched them. Rhyme felt that same kind of terrible, passionate awe that a poor man might feel at beholding a gold bar for the very first time- she wanted them, wanted to hold them in her hands and bury her face in them, but could not bear to even look at them.

"Rhyme, " he murmured in a voice distorted from coming from the two planes, eyes hazy and expressionless. "I didn't think you'd be here. "

She stumbled backwards and turned to go. "I'm s-so sorry for intruding, Joshua- "

"No, it's ok. I'm glad you're here. " Joshua's voice was soft, and seemed like it was coming from someone far away. "I... "

"My wings, you know, act a little like a Player Pin- they can pick up on thoughts. But they're a lot more sensitive- sensitive to emotions, to very souls. When I let my wings out, all I feel is all the hate and anger and filth that flows through Shibuya, like sewage. " A note of distaste entered his voice here. "The more I grew to know Shibuya, the more I hated it. So I stopped using my wings until now. "

"But just because I don't like how Shibuya is, doesn't mean it changes if I don't listen to it. The only way I know of any change is if I open myself up to Shibuya anyway. It's my duty. "

He smiled, then returned fully to the RG, and shook himself as if to wake up. "But really, Rhyme, I'm glad you came. "

"Why? " she breathed, still trying to process all that had happened and shake off the effect that seeing his Composer form had on her.

"Shibuya just seems a little brighter when you're around, " he chuckled, walking past her and back into the main part of the shop to slip behind the counter.

Rhyme gave a little secret smile behind her blush as she got back to work. I was wrong, Joshua. You are changing- in your own special way.

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Man, this feels cheesier than that time I burned the pasta for some Kraft Mac and Cheese and used the sauce on a batch of ramen. Cheese was pooling in the bowl as I ate.

See you in December, guys! xD

--Saro

REVIEWS ARE JOSH WINGS TO MEEEEE. 


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